The Fourth Phase of Christian Persecution
By Ray Gano

I am deeply concerned as to where this nation is going. But I am actually more concerned about the mindset many Christians have.

On March 9th I sent out an article with my commentary regarding the San Francisco Chronicle article titled “Homeschoolers' setback sends shock waves through state”

In my commentary I stated that we are seeing the vilification of Christians and the elimination of our rights here in the US being systematically taken away before our very eyes, and at an alarming rate to boot.

I equated these new laws and the rights of parents being taken away to the laws and regulations that were passed against the Jew in pre-world war Germany.

The very same process that allowed the murder of 6 million Jews as well as hundreds of thousands of fundamental Christians are being used again this very day. But the brunt of the attack is against the Fundamental Christian first, the Jew will then follow.

I got the following from one of our free list readers…

Unfortunately, your response is not totally accurate.  It is not against the law to homeschool in California.   This case concerned one family in California, and California law permits folks to homeschool. Conservative activist Randy Thomasson has recently urged California homeschoolers to ignore the ruling,  although to keep tabs on what might occur.  Also, HSLDA has stated that "if the opinion is followed through..." meaning that it hasn't yet.

I guess what I'm saying that to take the extremist viewpoint and state what isn't true - that homeschooling is illegal in California - based on an "opinion" of a 3 panel appellate court (who, by the way, doesn't make the law) - is a little over the top.

We should err on the side of caution at the present time.

I was floored by this response. But I want to say that I am not trying to pick on this person, but what I want to show is the prevalent attitude out there. This person’s email was not the only email I got voicing semantics vs the real situation. In fact, another email was more concerned that I spelled “Lenin” with two “N”s, and all basically said I am over reacting and “just over-dramatizing the whole thing.”

So what is going on here? This is the same sort of response that the lukewarm German’s gave those who stood in defiance when laws against Jews were being made.

The emails I received were from people who were splitting hairs and focusing on the knat and not the camel.

These are the same sort of arguments that were given approximately 80 years ago which caused 6 million Jews to be sent to the gas chamber.

All that time no one did anything about it except argue and present semantics. There were a few who stood up, mostly fundamental Christians, but their fate was much the same as the Jews…death.

The big issue is that laws are being made primarily against religious, and yes some non-religious, parents who wish to exercise their rights as a parent teaching them at home.

This is in fact a covert attack on Christians and religious freedoms no matter which way you look at it.

Who are the predominate group of people who homeschool their children?

Yes, Christians.

And my concerns are an “extremist viewpoint” that… “is a little over the top” and “just over-dramatizing the whole thing”?

The following is a famous poem written by Rev. Martin Neimoeller, German Lutheran Pastor. Rev. Neimoeller was arrested by the Gestapo for opposing Hitler and was sent to Dachau in 1938. He was freed by Allied forces in 1945.

"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me."

How many Christians out there are making the same excuses and not caring?

How many Christians out there just don’t see this taking place and have their proverbial heads buried in the sand?

Here is a real eye opener...

The five steps or stages leading to the eventual persecution of a group(s):

• Identifying and stereotyping the group;
• Marginalizing the group-pushing it out of the mainstream to the margins of society;
• Vilification, slandering, and trashing of the group;
• Passing discriminatory legal restrictions and eventually criminalizing the activities of the group;
• Outright persecution of the group. (3)

Please read the following statements from Justice H. Walter Croskey who was one of the three judges who ruled against Christian parents and their rights to homeschool their own children.

"California courts have held that ... parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children,"

"Parents have a legal duty to see to their children's schooling under the provisions of these laws." (1)

Based upon what Justice Croskey said, parents can be prosecuted and do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their own children.

But here is the really scary statement.

"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," (1)

WHAT?

Where in that statement is there any mention of reading, writing, science or arithmetic?

But what got me is the statement.. 

“loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare,"

When I read that my jaw just about hit the floor.

My loyalty is to my God and Savior, Jesus Christ first and NOT to the state or nation.

Folks, that is right out of the Nazi / Communist / Fabian Socialist propaganda play book.

Now, you may be asking yourself “ Ray, what does this have to do with me?”

You’re reasoning…

• You don’t have kids
• Your kids are grown
• Your kids are in public / private school

If you are a parent or a Christian concerned about your religious freedoms, you need to be worried and worried big time.

Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said the ruling would effectively ban homeschooling in the state.

"California is now on the path to being the only state to deny the vast majority of homeschooling parents their fundamental right to teach their own children at home," he said in a statement. (1)

There is an old saying… “As California goes, so goes the nation.”

Just a quick reminder of some very recent California bills…

SB 777 is a bill doing away with gender completely and makes “Mom & Dad” banished term. But more than that, it delivered the young children of California into the hands of those who will introduce them to alternative sexual lifestyles.

SB 1322, introduced by Democrat Sen. Alan Lowenthal. This bill gives free reign to communists to teach and influence young people in public schools and colleges.

But Leslie Heimov, executive director of the Children's Law Center of Los Angeles said

"They just affirmed that the current California law, which has been unchanged since the last time it was ruled on in the 1950s, is that children have to be educated in a public school, an accredited private school, or with an accredited tutor," she said. "If they want to send them to a private Christian school, they can, but they have to actually go to the school and be taught by teachers." (1)

To be an accredited teacher, one will have to get certified in each topic they (the teacher or parent) will teach. This will basically wipe out and vilify all parents who do not hold teaching certificates in each topic the student is taught in.

But here is the real catch…

“Heimov said her organization's chief concern was not the quality of the children's education, but their "being in a place daily where they would be observed by people who had a duty to ensure their ongoing safety.""(1)

What California has done is effectively made criminals out of God fearing parents exercising their God given rights to raise their own children in an environment they choose.

But where is this leading to?

Here are two incidents of police brutality. Take some time to read and determine where and when these incidents had occurred:

Incident 1

The police troops arrived in two vans late in the afternoon. Their or­ders were to locate sympathizers. The police hauled hundreds of suspects into Market Square where the scene turned violent. Before arresting anyone, the authorities forced men and women to run a gaunt­let of jeering, kicking, spitting troopers.

Their thirst for pain seemingly could not be quenched. They turned on women and children. A frail woman of sixty-six hid her sons from the attackers, and the police set upon her. "Where are your sons?" they demanded. Grabbing her by the hair, they dragged the sickly wom­an down the street. They hoped to wrench a confession either through her torment or humiliation before watching neighbors. But many neigh­bors, fearing for themselves, turned away. The woman was pulled to Market Square, her face bloodied as it scraped along the street. In the· end her noble effort to spare her boys seemed foolish, as they were found and herded into the town square.

Incident 2

The police ... brought in a double-decker bus, complete with tinted windows (thus it was impossible to see what was going on inside the bus ... ). Brutality started on the bus. Angela was dragged onto the bus by her hair. People were billy-clubbed, kicked, and punched. Po­lice dragged women in the bus by pulling up skirts and bras over their heads, exposing them in so doing .... The men were denied food for thirty hours .... Upon arrival at the ... jail there were over thirty police ... lined up along five or six flights of stairs .... Women were then dragged up the steps, some by the hair and others by the neck. You could hear the sound of heads smacking against the steps. The warden was at the bottom of the first flight of stairs, and he kicked [the people] as they were dragged by him.

During this entire procedure there was foul language, obscenities, and threats of putting women ... in rooms with male prisoners to be sodomized and raped .... They were asked to strip in front of male guards and male prisoners. All refused. They were then forcibly stripped by both male and female guards, dragged, kicked, and punched. Women ... were fondled, verbally abused, and threatened.

Incident 1 is the description of troopers brutalizing Jews in a communi­ty in World War II Nazi Germany.

Incident 2 is the description of the police brutalizing Christians who were passively protesting outside an abortion clinic in Pittsburgh, Penn­sylvania, on March 11, 1989. (2)

Folks, it is getting increasingly ugly for Christians. I personally believe that out and out persecution of believers is coming.

We are seeing Phase Four taking place today. 

History repeats itself. We are returning to Pre-WWII days. How much longer will it be before our kids will be beat up and sexually molested at school all under the guise of Homosexual education? Will they soon be forced to perform perverse acts by the Politically Correct State Education Police because the so called “Law” says so?

Already we are seeing our churches being desecrated and worship services disrupted. Just a month ago a ravenous murderer went into a church and shot, killed and wounded Christians during a church service. 

Our homes will be vandalized and our lives threatened. Our cars will be damaged and our tires slashed. Our jobs will be in danger and laws for hiring Christians will be enacted.

How much more but more importantly, where are we now?

The Five-Step Pattern of Persecution

Francis Schaeffer, in his book A Christian Manifesto said the following…

The basic problem of the Christians in this country in the last eighty years or so, in regard to society and in regard to government, is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals.

Isolation of, and discrimination against Christians is growing almost geometrically with increasing incidents of intimidation, ostracism, fir­ings, exaggerated and false accusations of criminal and quasicriminal activities, false arrests, and imprisonments. This is the way it started in Germany against the Jews. As they became more isolated and marginalized by the Nazi propaganda machine, as popular hatred and prejudice against the Jews increased among the German people, wholesale persecution and pogroms followed. Could this be where the growing anti-Christian consensus in America is taking us?

Paul and Robert Schenck wrote in their book The Extermination of Christianity-A Tyranny of Consensus about a five-step pattern which was evident in the persecutions of the Jews by the Nazis and of Chris­tians by the communists. This escalating pattern of persecution can be seen in the persecution of most groups going back to the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Nero up through the Middle Ages right through the present persecution of Christians in China, Sudan, and various communist and Islamic countries around the world.

Persecution arises out of a struggle for power-to achieve it, main­tain it, or expand it. Those seeking total power, whether a Roman Caesar, a Nazi fuehrer, or a communist dictator will seek to suppress their opposition (often ruthlessly) or any group or movement (i.e., ethical, religious, or ideological) which they believe threatens their power base.

Early on, powerful dictators have feared and hated Christians-whom they believed would not pay total allegiance to their monarchy, dictator­ship, or ideology. The communists know that practicing Christians will not be easily converted to atheism (the foundational element of Marx­ism/Leninism), nor will they pay homage to the communist dictator­ship. Christians, because of their eternal perspective and biblical belief system, are more difficult to intimidate, coerce, control, and turn into obedient servants of the state. Hence, communism from its inception has attempted to stamp out the Christian church.

The five steps or stages leading to the eventual persecution of a group are:

• Identifying and stereotyping the group;
• Marginalizing the group-pushing it out of the mainstream to the margins of society;
• Vilification, slandering, and trashing of the group;
• Passing discriminatory legal restrictions and eventually criminalizing the activities of the group;
• Outright persecution of the group.

The word persecute is defined by Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as "to harass in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict; specifically to cause to suffer because of a belief." Persecution is defined as "the act or practice of persecuting, especially those who differ in origin, religion, or social outlook."

Persecution consists of malicious acts perpetrated against people who are of a different belief, religion, social, or political persuasion from the vast majority, and especially from those in power who are the perse­cutors. Certain characteristics of the targeted group are exaggerated and attacked by the persecutors-such as Christians' distaste for homosexu­ality, their moral opposition to promiscuity, their belief in spanking chil­dren, or their belief in the Second Coming/ end times/Armageddon sce­nario of history. (3)

Folks, we know that Christians and Jews will die at the hands of the antichrist by the millions. That is in fact scriptural.

But what foundations and laws will be made prior for this to take place?

What sort of “brain washing” into acceptance needs to take place?

We are currently sitting at phase four out of five phases.

I believe we are seeing these foundations being made today.

If the Lord tarries, are you ready to face persecution for the Lord?

But more importantly;

Who Do You Serve?

Jesus stated the following…

John 14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If you do not have Christ in your life, you will spend eternity in hell. This is a fact. It does not matter if you believe this or not, it is the truth spoken by Jesus himself. If your name is not written in the Lambs Book of Life you will go to hell for what you have not done and that is accepting Christ as your personal savior. To be placed in the Lamb Book of Life, you need to turn your life completely over to Him. Having “head” knowledge or “just believing in Christ” is not the same as having “heart” knowledge with Christ living in your heart.  We know that even the devils believe in Him, where are they spending eternity?

James 2:19 (KJV)  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

We work hard at Prophezine to show that Bible Prophecy is coming to pass. Because of this fact, the Bible is true. Since the Bible is the true and inerrant word of God, there is a heaven and there is a hell.

If you claim the title of “Christian” then take account of yourself this day. Many claim the title, but we read in God’s Word that the title does not get you into heaven.

Matthew 7:21(KJV)  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 7:22(KJV) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Matthew 7:23(KJV) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Who you serve will determine where you will spend eternity. If you are not serving Christ and a true child of God, then you are serving Satan and a child of the enemy.

If you are not 110% sure, then take account of yourself, your very life depends upon it.

1John 1:9 (KJV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

About the Author:

Ray & Tracye Gano are the Executive Directors of Prophezine. Prophezine deals with Bible Prophecy and World Events from a Pre-trib, pre-millennial, dispensationalist stand point. They currently serve close to 70,000+ (and growing) people world wide with a weekly newsletters, daily news updates, community based website and Internet radio shows. Ray recently released his latest project “Escape The End Time Money Snare – The CD a multimedia CD co-authored with Wilfred Hahn focusing on how to escape the trappings of mammon and learning how to live simply in God’s abundance.

Please visit Prophezine by going to http://www.prophezine.com

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Endnotes

1 - Homeschoolers' setback sends shock waves through state

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL

2 – Storm Warning by Don McAlvany pages 272-273 – Heartstone Publishing- 1999.

3 - Storm Warning by Don McAlvany pages 275-276 – Heartstone Publishing- 1999.